Thoughts on recent Ninth Circuit and California appellate cases from Professor Shaun Martin at the University of San Diego School of Law.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

In Re Isiah S. (Cal. Ct. App. - Nov. 10, 2016)

I think it'd be really, really hard for me to be a judge in juvenile dependency court. Of course you see terrible, terrible situations involving abuse, and that'd be horrifying. But even in the "run of the mill" case, you've got to make incredibly tough decisions involving adoption, parental rights, splitting up siblings, etc.

That's just got to be incredibly hard. And, unless you totally turn off your emotions, draining.

So when I read opinions like this one, I'm super impressed by the participants. The lawyers, the judges, everyone. Even wholly apart from the fact that the panel is unanimous and agrees with the trial court.

It's just a very difficult job, and one that the participants generally perform very well. Day in and day out.